Apple is reported to have extended its clampdown on apps which recommend other titles, with “filtering, bookmarking, searching or sharing recommendations” now verboten.

Previously, titles such as AppShopper and AppGratis have been pulled for the store, having fallen foul of a clause in Apple’s terms and conditions which prohibit apps which list other products for promotion or sale “in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store”.

However, PocketGamer said that this has now been extended to include apps which include sharing and recommendation features, a move which “in theory at least, threatens scores of titles already active within Apple’s ecosystem – and for the first time, not just those engaged in pure app discovery”.

The belief is that the clause was originally added to enable Apple to address products designed to “game” the App Store charts by promoting specific titles, often after payments were made by a developer. But it seems that this has been extended at the expense of other methods of app discovery.

It has been mooted that Apple is looking to clear the decks ahead of a broad revamp of its app discovery tools, powered by technology acquired from Chomp.